Want a badass lunch?

If you haven't been to The Drop for lunch.... do it!
Here is the lunch special from the other day. $8 are you kidding me? Yum.

"Croque madame: (croque monsieur with a fried egg) berkshire ham, white cheddar w/ sauteed asparagus $8. Soup: Potato with garlic and truffle"

And don't forget about their Prix Fixe – Sundays!

"Looking for the Deal of The Century? Find it, Sunday nights at The Drop! Grab a dinner date and hit The Drop on Sunday nights for our exclusive Prix Fixe dinner for two. Enjoy four (4) courses and a bottle of wine for just $50 per couple."

Go say hi to Eddie and the rest of the sexy staff today!

Steakhouse or Gay Bar?

Really, it's harder than you think. Tee Hee. Play here.

Rusty Spurs? Gay bar!
Hindquarter? Steakhouse!

My favorite little Korean finally has a website!

It's Nari Kye, her website is Nyam Nyam and she has a few very odd instructional cooking videos. Cute alert!

Here is her video on making Fermented Soybean Stew.
Here is one for making Kim Chee which she calls "Buried Treasure".

Greatest Advent Calender ever?

I think it is. Thanks to the folks at Bristow Fresh for the post..

Welcome to Salon Food!

Here is the official introduction by Francis Lam.

"Food is the thing that connects us, the thing that can give me and a man whose circumstances I will never understand a reason to stand together and share our lives for an hour. It’s the thing that reminds you, when you taste something new, or better yet when you taste something old again for the first time, how much bigger and better and more wonderful the world can be than we ever realize."

Introducing salon.com/food chumps!

That's right folks, the people over at Salon started a food section. I suspect some people from Gourmet have found work here.

Here is a great article by Francis Lam about Michel Bras.

"Michel Bras was just another chef I was supposed to respect, until I realized why."

salon.com/food

Richard Branson to Open New Jersey Culinary Resort

Hell yes! Here is the story.

"The resort, located in Peapack-Gladstone in Somerset County, is called Natirar (the reverse of Raritan, the river that runs at the edge of the property). A restaurant, Ninety Acres, will be open to the public, along with a cooking school run by Viking, the kitchen appliance company, and a wine school."

Here is the official website.

Here is the Wiki.

"Natirar 491 acres (2 km²) is an estate spanning Peapack-Gladstone, Far Hills and Bedminster, New Jersey. In 2003 it was sold by the estate of His Majesty, Hassan II, late King of Morocco, to Somerset County, New Jersey, and is now administered by the Somerset County Park Commission. Approximately 90 acres (360,000 m²) of the estate have been leased to the Virgin Spa at Natirar, an entity controlled by Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group, which plans to develop that portion of the estate (which includes the mansion, stable/carriage barn and most of the other outbuildings) into an exclusive hotel, spa, restaurant complex."

Tripe the next sushi?

Thomas Keller the King of American Cuisine thinks so.

Chef Tats

Chef Tattoos are pretty cool. I like the Sirracha logo and the 6 year old chef's back tattoo.

The best jerky ever

I just ordered some jerky from this little place in Le Roy, Kansas. It's been years since I've had some. It's the best. Order some! Jerky USA!

How would I know?

"How would I know?" is the common response I give to people when they pose the question of whether Westport is dying off. From the new P&L competition to the increased violence of the area, everyone seems to have a theory on why this one time party destination seems on the brink of extinction.

I just don't know. I rarely venture anywhere during the late night party hours anymore. And I assume that is when Westport can be judged the best. I did make it there on a recent Thursday night and every bar seemed about as busy as the tourist office in Bixby, Oklahoma (sorry, obscure reference to a J.D. Mercer prank phone call).

The beer was cold, the pizza still relatively warm and tasty, but the inside of Kelly's on that night looked absolutely barren. The Foundry fared no better. Even America's Pub looked lonely bumping its techno sounds as if beckoning drunken 19 year olds to please give it a chance.

So is Westport dying? And if so, why? I don't buy the P&L theory. It's a different crowd. Besides isn't competition the very thing that drives our great bar loving nation?

I think it's staleness. We all love that special place that stays the same and we love it for refusing to change with the times. But we also know that most of the places in Westport have long ago lost any allure or charm which made them so special.

Recipe for an Outrageous Cookbook

You guessed it... I dig this guy. Here is a article about his cookbook Momofuku. Here is video of David in the kitchen.

"Chef David Chang's first cookbook is long, laced with profanity and full of complicated, labor-intensive recipes, many of which require obscure ingredients like kochukaru (Korean chili powder) and sliced country jowl. In food circles, it's one of the most highly anticipated books of the year."

VICE Launches Food Video Series

 Someone is wasted, and its David Chang talking shop. This guy's pretty cool. I'm looking forward to more of this "Munchies" series from VICE.

"The first episode follows chef David Chang as he dines on Korean fried chicken in Midtown Manhattan and hosts chef Jose Andres for a late-night dinner at Ssam Bar. Tune in for lots of self-deprecation, swearing, drinking, and pork buns."

A Magical Sight

Magic Hat is a Vermont based brewery known on the East Coast for producing some highly sought after beers. During my time living in the D.C. area Magic Hat #9 became my "go to" beer. This yummy elixir was constantly on hand in either my kegerator or in the bottle form. Their aptly named #9 (for how many I want to have when I start drinking them) is a a light Pale Ale infused with apricot, but unlike normal fruit beers, the apricot mixes well with the drink and provides a subtle fresh taste without the obvious fruit flavor. In fact many people will drink a few of these before they even realize it contains any fruit.

When I moved back to KC I went on a manhunt for this brew. Despite repeated e-mails to the friendly Vermont brewers, Magic Hat refused to cross the Mississippi River due to the fact that they were unable to keep up with demand out East. Chicago (East St. Louis) was the closest area that provided this beer. A friend of mine recently picked me up a case from Chicago and while the bottle version satisfied my #9 cravings it clearly wasn't the same as sipping this beer on draft.

With plans of a Chicago visit in my head, I recently found myself at the Westport Flea Market for a burger (I know... totally unrelated but that's how my mind works). I was impressed that the Flea Market now boasts a beer sampling tray were one can try four different 5 oz samples of their taps. But more importantly, as I left I noticed a sign advertising Magic Hat #9 on draft. Unfortunately, they had yet to tap it that day as it had just arrived.

But now it's on! On like Donkey Kong. Suddenly I have a daily urge to play Keno and sip (or chug) #9. Magical indeed.

100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)

Pretty good list part 1. Part 2

I personally hate it when anyone calls me "Boss" or when they say, "What can I do ya for?"

Giada De Laurentiis

As you've never seen her. Yummy.

Midtown Food Guy's dinner bill from last night

Check out the tab he racked up! I wish I had a nickle for every nickle my fellow blog contributor has.

Update: I found a breakdown of the bill here.

Confidence Shaken

For those of us that live in the Midwest, we were blessed by some great weather this past weekend. When the weather heats up during the Fall or early Spring I jump at the opportunity to eat outdoors. This past year, my new favorite outdoor eating destination has been Grinder's (417 E. 18th St., KCMO). I love(ed) heading over to Grinders to grab some pizza or a Philly while I sampled their impressive beer offerings.

In KC, Grinders has been one of those places that foodies either really love or really hate. I had been in the really loved group. "Had" is the key word. Sometimes one or two things go wrong with your meal and you can simply chalk it up to playing the odds. Like a roulette wheel, even if you bet both "black" and "red" one of those pesky "green" zeros is occasionally going to pop up.

But this past weekend I experienced a monumental bad run of luck. The service, usually cheerful and hard working was slow and unfriendly. Grinder's typically awesome beer list was filled with out-dated and flat offerings (such as the Emphemere) and a general lack of availability. It got to the point where you would have to pick out four beers before the server made her once every 20 minute visit in order to find one that may have been in stock.

Our food order was messed up and we had to wait 20 minutes to get a follow-up server visit (Note: food is delivered by the cooks so before we could notice this mix up he was gone and we were left to the mercy of waiting on one of the servers).

The pizza slices were very sub-par. Lacking in toppings and sauce the mushroom pizza featured fresh, uncooked mushrooms and the amount of pepperonis gracing the flat slab of dough on our pepperoni slice ensured that few pigs were harmed in the pizza making process at Grinders.

In short, I'm distraught. I want my old Grinders experience back. I want to be part of the KC crowd that likes this place. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can bring myself to spend any more money at this joint. Any other outside seating suggestions?

The 50 best things to eat in the world, and where to eat them

"From cake, steak and tapas, to oysters, chicken and burgers, Killian Fox roamed the world to find the 50 best things to eat and the best places to eat them in, with a little help from professionals like Raymond Blanc, Michel Roux, Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray"